To gain some sense of what Darcy’s wealth might mean in modern terms,
the difficulties inherent in comparisons of actual wealth or of purchasing
power in 1810 and 1990 can be overcome to some degree by instead calculating
the income of someone with 300 times today’s per capita income.If one takes the average per capita income
in 1989 for both the US ($20,894) and Canada (US$20,105) using standard market
rates, one can see that an income 300 times larger would be $6,268,200 (US) or
US $6,031,500 (Canada).

Again, a straight
comparison of actual wealth is misleading given the relative distribution of
wealth in society in Jane Austen’s day as compared to our own.The fact that there was less money around in
1810 than today, both in total and in proportion to the population, together
with the relative poverty of most of the population, meant that Darcy stood out
even among those with significant incomes.Today, an income of $300,000 (using Professor Heldman’s figures) would
mean that Darcy would lead an extremely comfortable life, but would not place
him at the average of “the top 400 families.”But, with an income of over $6 million, or 300 times today’s per capita
income, he would certainly be regarded as outstandingly wealthy – more in
keeping with his status in the world of Pride and Prejudice!